SOFTBALL NOTES

Chronicle (Levin), 10 March 1949, Page 7

SOFTBALL NOTES

"Strike One") :

Two Excellent Games Seen On Saturday

(By

Two very high class games were seen on Saturday, one between Pirates and Ajdx an'd the other between Athletic and Kimberley, where only one point separatedthe two teams in each game. Both scores were under ten, usually a sure sign of good softball. The excitement was intense until the last" man went up to bat. The surprise of the day was the excellent showing of Ajax (6) in its game with Pirates (7), and I have no doubt that ' the veteran player, P. Walton, back in the game again after a long spe 1, was mainly responsible for holding Pirates down. Basemsn on both si'des worked like cloekwork and with the exception of an occasional misfield or overthrow, all players came up to standard. V. Bonner showed good judgment in his pitching, a new venture for him, and he should improve even more. Athletic (5) suffered its third •defeat, this time by Kimberley 1 (6) , tout the final result was in | doubt right up to the last minute. Superb fielding by Rossen and Thompson, two tall fellows with long throw-ins from outfield, were rfesponsible for easily half the Athletic batsmen being caught, and the exercising of care by the runners. Tyler, back after a long spell off with a leg injury, pitched very steadily and had the Athletic batsmen in a lot of trouble. For Athletic, Fletcher's pitching lacked a lot of its usual sting. Frazer's batting was poer and hs also missed a couple of reasonable catches, while Stevens was responsible for two wild throws to first base which cost Athletic two runs. Without wishing to deprive Kimberley of the glory of an important victory, I believe Athletic is only half its original strength. Re^s. For Wellington A representative team, or teams, travel to Wellington on Saturday to play Wellington juniors, and it is also hoped to arrange a gariie with .another Wellington team for the B team. At the practices held lately (and I am pleased to say three were held in one week and were well attended) some good talent was obvious, but the A; 'team is of a*-diffarent calibre to; the B. I must give credit to the B jbasemen, iS. Bonner, Rose andi Swan. They are a grand combination and.I hope they will stand the pressure in a game. The most important change in the A team is( Skilton as pitcher. Even Welling-; ton batsmen will find him hard toi hit. Stackhouse, as catcher, isj also a change worthy of his place. Of the ibasemen,. Morgan, Des-J grand and Marshall, my only con-j cern is for Desgrand's throwing, which is apt to be wild on occasions. V. Bonner is the logicalj choice for short-stop and it seemsj that the tough.er tne game the better he plays. In the outfield,1 Greatbatch, Atkinson and Fletcher are all experienced players, with Greatbatch being the one who has not played up to form lately, particularly in his batting, which used to be his strong department. I have every confidence in the team, and the city players will have to be good to beat them. In the B team practically all the players are young fellows and a good game in good company and general experience should go a long way towards improving their future softball. .All players have been showing up well in club games. ^